Pulse March / April 2018 | Page 32

MEMbEr PErsPEctivEs Spa Kalahari and Salon Making Unified Company Culture the Focal Point of Staffing Making sure staff members are happy and engaged, ensures your guests will feel the same. tandout company culture is now a prerequisite for employees on the brink of saying yes to the job and for existing staff members’ rising expectations for their definitions of a happy, healthy work environment. This demand in morale boost within a collaborative and productive atmos- phere is a great thing, and with all great things come great challenges. Corporate Spa Director Nikki Severson of Spa Kalahari and Salon says that the main staffing challenge for her is finding qualified candidates that align with the team’s cohesive company culture. “As we seek out candidates, we look for team members that are passionate about the industry and S 28 PULSE ■ March/April 2018 passionate about taking care of our guests,” Severson notes. “It has been my philosophy in my career that if you are here for the paycheck, you are here for the wrong reason.” Granted, Severson wants her thera- pists to make a fulfilling and lucrative career out of their positions. Veteran employees at Spa Kalahari and Salon understand that they are there to give back of themselves, their time and their talents of helping people reduce stress, feel better, enhance beauty and simply rejuvenate. So, entering employees also need to have that same mentality of providing excellence. With three locations (Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, Sandusky, Ohio, and Pocono Manor, Pennsylvania), each African-themed Waterpark Resort of Spa Kalahari and Salon has its own personality and cultural fit that attracts the best candidates out there. recruting the best Severson says she and her managers and supervisors have tried a number of things to overcome staffing challenges within the company. For example, the Spa and Salon is currently exploring the possibility of tuition reimbursement for its existing team members to become dual licensed, offering enhanced incen- tives such as license renewal and continued education reimbursement, and then offering those classes in-house whenever possible. At one of Spa Kalahari and Salon’s locations, they have offered relocation expense reimbursement for new hires